Africa’s most liquid cryptocurrency exchange, OVEX, has built a reputation for itself among large-scale investors, brokers and asset managers. This is because the exchange has honed in on its position as the private bank for crypto in Africa. OVEX offers these higher-volume investors a white glove, personalised trading service that ensures they can achieve their goals with ease.

“Experienced investors, brokers and asset managers like working with us,” said OVEX CEO Jon Ovadia. “This is because we take a human approach to the way we do business. We seek to understand goals, and then work with them directly to help them achieve these goals. It’s a different relationship than what people have come to expect with a financial institution.”

Indeed, public faith in commercial banking has been dwindling. A study conducted by survey group YouGov, in combination with the University of Cambridge and the Guardian revealed shocking statistics such as:

83% of survey respondents believed bankers were greedy;
80% said bankers weren’t doing enough to rescue the world from the financial crisis “they themselves created”; and
57% did not think the banking sector was getting any better.

The survey reflects the social backdrop against which bitcoin was first released in 2009 by the mysterious and pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, straight after the 2008 financial crisis from which so many were still suffering.

The purpose of cryptocurrency was to redefine the financial ecosystem.

OVEX’s human-based approach

OVEX embodies that change. When signing up for its over-the-counter (OTC) service, large-scale investors receive a dedicated team that they can chat with via WhatsApp for anything they need, any time they need. Placing a cryptocurrency order is literally as easy as typing, “Hey guys, give me 100 BTC” and within seconds the client receives a quote which they can then lock at will. Once the rate is locked, the transaction is executed with zero wait time.

The cherry on top of the cake is that OVEX’s ultra-deep liquidity means that these transactions get carried out with zero slippage and zero fees except for the spread — the difference between the buy and sell price. Such a practice was unheard of in cryptocurrency exchanges until OVEX came along.

Select OTC clients also have access to a no-questions-asked R100-million credit line to help them execute trades on the spot. It is a “trade now, pay later” approach where the trader can access the credit line immediately to lock in a price and then make the trade, not needing to wait until the debt is settled.

Again, it is OVEX’s exceptional liquidity that makes this possible. In a single month, the exchange trades over R7.5-billion. R3-billion alone gets processed through third parties who make use of OVEX’s automated API. The company also has close to R1-billion of assets under management in its high-interest-earning crypto accounts, which can help investors achieve as much as 20% in annualised interest.

The company’s liquidity coupled with its concierge-level service for larger private investors and institutional investors has resulted in a snowball effect on growth. The price for trades of over US$1-million now regularly outperforms OVEX’s competitors by at least 3%.

What’s more, OVEX has recently begun offering trading rebates and rewards for clients clearing a minimum of $500 000 in volume per month. Every dollar traded over this minimum will receive a rebate of R0.0025, which will be credited directly to said client’s account at the end of every month.

Democratising finance

Don’t think for a moment that OVEX is all about the “posh” investors trading high volumes at the sacrifice of newer, less experienced or low-volume investors. Quite the contrary. Because of this very same liquidity, OVEX managed to break all the “rules” and develop a simple Request for Quote (RFQ) tool that makes buying and selling cryptocurrency literally as easy as typing in how much cryptocurrency you want to buy/sell and then immediately executing said trade, as opposed to the oftentimes tedious and confusing means of buying and selling via an open-order book.

“We are very pleased with OVEX’s growth since we started this venture,” said Ovadia. “We believe very strongly in how cryptocurrency can change the world for the better, and so we make sure to offer services across the board that investors of all means can make use of.”

One thing is for sure, though: OVEX is set on opening up institutional access to cryptocurrency in Africa, thereby accelerating the advent of this new asset class that is taking the continent’s financial ecosystem to new heights.

Disclaimer
OVEX does not give any trading, market, investment or financial advice in connection with the services, through any channel or means, including the help desk and the over-the-counter (OTC) facility. You make use of OVEX services strictly on an executionary basis, each time instructing OVEX to execute your transactions.

OVEX is a juristic representative of OVEX FSP (Pty) Ltd, FSP number 50776. OVEX provides limited financial services on behalf of OVEX FSP (Pty) Ltd.